The present invention relates to an aggregate (cluster) of electronic components in which electronic components including an element and an electronic component are aggregated in a predetermined number and a mounting method thereof, and a mobile device comprising the aggregate of electronic components.
Recently, mobile devices represented by a telephone are on the way toward a reduction in weight and in size. Accordingly, the electronic circuit substrate incorporated in the mobile device is getting denser in the mounting of the electronic components while the electronic components used therein are also getting finer.
In order to mount the electronic components on the circuit substrate, gaps are required between the electronic components without fail. Since these gaps become extremely small as a result of said increase in density, there is a limit in the adjacent gaps in individually mounting even electronic components reduced in size in any way. Furthermore, there are various differences among the electronic components not only in size but also in height. In the case of correcting a mounting error which occurs easily as smaller adjacent gaps, when an electronic component is mounted again around higher electronic components than it, tools such as suction nozzle or the like for holding and handling electronic components are likely to interfere with the higher electronic components, which makes the work difficult and long or causes work failure or work malfunction, so that the electronic circuit substrate in process may become defective.
Furthermore, even when the electronic components are reduced to any small size, the number of electronic components to be mounted for manufacturing electronic circuit substrate remains the same, so that productivity is not improved. With greater difficulty in the mounting of the electronic components, the productivity and yield are lowered on the contrary.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 06-251993 (1) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-40459 (2) disclose technologies for dealing with the issue described above. As shown in FIG. 9, the technology described in the above publication (1) is such that each of flat plate-like chip bodies 100a forming elements with different electric functions such as a capacitor and/or a resistor, or elements with the same type of function are connected or joined in a row via an organic adhesive 100c which can disappear at the time of solder joining and inorganic adhesive 100d insolvent or undissolved at a solder joining temperature, allowing the sides with no outer electrode 100b formed to be faced each other. The technology described in the publication (2) is such that each terminal electrode of chip electronic components, adjacent to each other when the sides of the chip electronic components in rectangular parallelepiped configuration are allowed to adhere to each other, is provided on each end portion of the chip electronic components with the predetermined interval, and a plurality of the chip electronic components are allowed to adhere to each other at the side surfaces with adhesive to form one row, maintained integrally.
According to the technology described above, since a plurality of chip electronic components are integrally handled and mounted in the number of the electronic components connected in a row, so that the difficulty in mounting of the electronic components resulting from the miniaturizations can be avoided. At the same time, the required times of the mounting work for the required number of the components is decreased, so that the productivity and the yield can be improved.
However, when the electronic components individually formed are respectively connected to each other, like the aggregate of electronic components described in the publications (1) and (2), work to connect a plurality of electronic components is required in addition to the manufacture of individual electronic components, and the connection work becomes more difficult with the miniaturization of the electronic components. It is also necessary to consider at least that the mounting surfaces for the individual electronic components form a planar surface to connect the individual electronic components. Such connection of the components is favorable for the mounting thereof, but unfavorable for the manufacture of the components, and the cost of components comes high.
In the aggregate of electronic components described in the publications (1) and (2), only sides with no electrodes can be connected to each other, so that a row is inevitably formed as described above, where an arrangement of aggregated electronic components and an arrangement at the time of mounting the aggregate of electronic components on the circuit substrate have a small degree of freedom, which is inconvenient. Thus, in some cases, mounting in a high density cannot be provided.
Even if the aggregate of electronic components as described in the publications (1) and (2) can be mounted in a high density, all the individual electronic components themselves forming the aggregate of electronic components are mounted facing the circuit substrate, so that the mounting density of individual electronic components cannot be improved.
An object of the present invention is to provide an aggregate of electronic components favorable for the improvement of the mounting work and the mounting density and a mounting method thereof, and a mobile device by the method.
In order to attain the above object, an aggregate of electronic components according to the present invention is characterized in that three or more electronic components including an element and an electronic component are formed on one substrate, and these electronic components form an aggregated planar surface on the surface of the substrate. That is, there is provided an aggregate of electronic components comprising:
one substrate; and
three or more electronic components including an element and an electronic component, formed on the one substrate, forming an aggregated planar surface on a surface of the substrate.
In such a structure, since the electronic components including an element and an electronic component are formed on one substrate, there is no difficulty in the handling and arrangement works due to a small size of individual electronic components, as seen in the case that finished electronic components are individually handled and mounted, or connected, so that three or more electronic components are arranged up to the limit of electric characteristic such as insulation in a high density in various patterns considering the type, the configuration, and the size, and the aggregate can be manufactured at cheaper cost. At the same time, each of the arranged electronic components forms an aggregated planar surface on the surface of the substrate, and the whole of the substrate and the electronic components can be formed in a desired planar configuration and size, easily having the mounting surface of one planar surface in the form handled in the same way as normal chip electronic components. Consequently, handling and mounting the electronic components become easy and the lowering of the yield due to a mounting error can be settled, thereby, along with a high degree of freedom in the arrangement, the mounting of the electronic components in high density is facilitated to improve the mounting density as a whole.
Furthermore, depending on the combinations of the heights of the electronic components and the thickness of the substrate and the thickness of the position of individual electronic components on the substrate, the height of the whole of the substrate and the electronic components is uniformed with respect to the different types, avoiding the deterioration in the work efficiency before and after the mounting of the electronic components to provide convenience in the correction of the mounting, while an aggregated planar surface is formed, even in the case of a combination in which electronic components on the substrate have different heights, to heighten freedom in the combination of the types of electronic components formed on one substrate.
The aggregate of electronic components according to the present invention is also characterized in that two or more types of electronic components including an element and an electronic component are formed on one substrate, and these electronic components form an aggregated planar surface at a surface of the substrate. That is, there is provided an aggregate of electronic components comprising:
one substrate; and
two or more types of electronic components including an element and an electronic component, formed on the one substrate, and forming an aggregated planar surface on a surface of the substrate.
In such a structure, since the electronic components including an element and an electronic component are formed on one substrate, there is no difficulty in the handling and arrangement works due to a small size of individual electronic components and difference in types, as seen in the case that finished electronic components are individually handled and mounted, or connected, so that two or more types of electronic components are arranged up to the limit of electric characteristic such as insulation in a high density in various patterns considering the type, the configuration, and the size, and the aggregate can be manufactured at cheaper cost. At the same time, each of the arranged electronic components forms an aggregated planar surface on the surface of the substrate, and the whole of the substrate and the electronic components can be formed in a desired planar configuration and size, easily having the mounting surface of one planar surface in the form handled in the same way as normal chip electronic components. Consequently, handling and mounting the electronic components become easy and the lowering of the yield due to a mounting error can be settled, thereby, along with a high degree of freedom in the arrangement, the mounting of the electronic components in high density is facilitated to improve the mounting density as a whole.
Furthermore, depending on the combinations of the height of the electronic components and the thickness of the substrate and the thickness of the position of individual electronic components on the substrate, the height of the whole of the substrate and electronic components is uniformed with respect to the different types, avoiding the deterioration in the work efficiency before and after the mounting of the electronic components to provide convenience in the correction of the mounting, while an aggregated planar surface is formed, even in the case of a combination in which electronic components on the substrate have different heights, to heighten freedom in the combination of the types of electronic components formed on one substrate.
In each of the above aggregates of electronic components, furthermore, each of the electronic components is formed on the upper surface of the substrate, and electrodes corresponding thereto can be formed on the upper surface or/and the side surface of the substrate so as to be connected to the other components on the upper surface side of the substrate, that is, there is provided an aggregate of electronic components according to the first or second aspect, wherein each of said electronic components is formed on an upper surface of the substrate, and electrodes corresponding thereto are formed on the upper surface and a side surface of the substrate so as to be connected with other element or component on an upper surface side of the substrate, so that the aggregate can be mounted on the mounting object such that each of the electrodes of the electronic components is allowed to face the mounting object on the same upper surface side of the substrate as the electronic components are formed on, to face and be connected to the connecting objects on the mounting object. Accordingly, the electrode structure can be made short and simple, and the electronic components are located between the substrate comprising the electronic components and the mounting object mounting the substrate to be protected from external force.
Then, a mounting method of the electronic components according to the present invention for mounting such electronic components is characterized in that a substrate, wherein three or more, or two or more types of electronic components including an element and an electronic component are formed on the upper surface, and electrodes corresponding thereto are formed at least on the upper surface out of the upper surface and the side surface so as to be connected to the other element or components on said upper surface, is reversed in such a manner that the upper surface is directed downward and mounted on the mounting object to connect the electrodes of the substrate to the side of the mounting object. That is, there is provided a method for mounting an aggregate of electronic components comprising:
reversing a substrate, comprising three or more, or two or more types of electronic components including an element and an electronic component on an upper surface thereof, and electrodes corresponding thereto at least on the upper surface out of the upper surface and a side surface thereof so as to be connected to other element or component on said upper surface, in such a manner that the upper surface is directed downward; and
thereafter mounting the substrate on a mounting object to connect the electrodes of the substrate to a side of the mounting object.
An aggregate of electronic components according to the present invention is characterized in that three or more, or two or more types of the electronic components including an element and an electronic component are formed on a substrate, their electrodes are formed at least on the lower surface out of the lower surface and the side surface of the substrate so as to be connected to the other element or components on the lower surface side of the substrate, and the electrodes provided on the lower surface of the substrate are connected to the electronic components formed on the upper surface of the substrate via the side surface of the substrate and/or a through hole. That is, there is provided an aggregate of electronic components comprising;
a substrate; and
three or more, or two or more types of electronic components including an element and an electronic component and formed on the substrate, with electrodes corresponding thereto being formed at least on a lower surface of the lower surface and a side surface of the substrate so as to be connected to other element or component on the lower surface thereof, and with the electrodes provided on the lower surface of the substrate being connected to electronic components formed on an upper surface of the substrate via the side surface of the substrate and/or a through hole.
In such a structure, the electrodes are provided on the substrate so as to be connected to the other element or components on the lower surface side of the substrate. Consequently, the electrodes can be connected to not only the electronic components formed on the lower surface but also the electronic components formed on the upper surface via the side surface of the substrate and/or through hole without fail. As a result, the electronic components formed on the upper surface of the substrate or the electronic components formed on the upper and the lower surfaces of the substrate can be connected to the mounting object with ease when the substrate is mounted on the mounting object on the lower surface side, and thereby, in a case that the electronic components are formed on the both of the upper and the lower surfaces of the substrate, two electronic components are overlapped and mounted on the same planar surface space to increase the mounting density two times.
Along with this, the aggregate of electronic components according to the present invention is also characterized in that a plurality of electronic components including an element and an electronic component are distributed to the upper surface and the lower surface of one substrate, and the electrodes of the electronic components formed on the upper surface are formed on the side surface of the substrate while the electrodes of the electronic components formed on the lower surface are formed on the lower surface of the substrate, where, in the case that the electronic components are formed on the both of the upper and the lower surfaces without providing a through hole on the substrate, the side of the substrate is effectively used so that the electronic components can be connected to the mounting object without fail in the same manner as said other characteristics.
The aggregate of the electronic components of the present invention is also characterized in that a plurality of the aggregates of electronic components including an element and an electronic component are distributed to the upper and the lower surfaces of one substrate to form thereon, and the electrode of the electronic components formed on the upper surface are formed on the side surface of the substrate while the electrode of the electronic components formed on the lower surface are formed on the side surface of the substrate with no electrode of the electronic components formed on the upper surface. That is, there is provided an aggregate of electronic components comprising:
one substrate; and
electronic components including an element and an electronic component and distributed to an upper surface and a lower surface of the one substrate, with the electrodes of the electronic component formed on the upper surface being formed on a side of the substrate and with electrodes of the electronic component formed on the lower surface being formed on a side surface of the substrate having no electrode of the electronic component formed on the upper surface.
In such a structure, while the electronic components are formed on the both of the upper and the lower surfaces of the substrate to double the mounting density, the connection of the electronic components on the upper and the lower surfaces of the substrate with the mounting object is ensured only with the electrodes on the side surface of the substrate, so that the portion of the electrodes formed on the upper and the lower surfaces of the substrate is reduced. As a result, the required area of the substrate can be reduced and the number of the formation of the electronic components on the upper and the lower surfaces of the substrate can be increased, which can realize further improvement in the mounting density of the electronic components.
In case of forming the electronic components on the substrate, resistors can be formed on the both of the upper and the lower surfaces, and a resistor can be formed on the upper surface or/and the lower surface of the substrate inside of which a capacitor or an inductor is formed. Combinations of the number and the type of the electronic components formed on one substrate allow the aggregate of electronic components to correspond to the target connecting circuit with various characteristics, thereby the target connecting circuit can be simplified and the size of the electronic circuit substrate mounting the electronic components on the circuit substrate can be reduced.
The aggregate of electronic components according to the present invention is also characterized in that two or more resistors are formed on one substrate, and these resistors are set in advance to predetermined resistance values different from each other by trimming.
In such a structure, since two or more resistors formed on the substrate are adjusted in advance so as to have a resistor value required on the target connecting circuit by trimming, adjustment by the pull-out of the wiring on the side of the target connecting circuit is not required, thereby the productivity can be improved and the size of the electronic circuit substrate mounting the electronic components on the circuit substrate can be reduced.
One feature of a mobile device of the present invention is that any of the above aggregates of electronic components is mounted on a circuit substrate with a wiring pattern, so that the electrodes of the substrate and the wiring pattern of the circuit substrate are connected.
In such a structure, a small-size, light-weight and cheap mobile device, which has an electronic circuit substrate manufactured by using any feature of each of the above aggregates of electronic components, is obtained.
Further feature and operation of the present invention will be made clear from the detailed description and the description of the drawings below. Each of the features of the present invention can be used solely or in various combinations as much as possible.